The Road Less Traveled
by Garrett
Summary: Buffy and Willow encounter a demon and end up in a world where Willow is the Slayer and Buffy is the Wicca, with significantly different lifestyles. Set after Conversations With Dead People, and now up to Chapter 6.
1. Chapter 1

**The Road Less Traveled**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything here. I'm also poor due to a stack of DVDs and a collection of video games that's close to 600 games for a dozen systems. Please don't sue me!

Author's Notes: I live! It's been forever and a day since I've done anything relating to fanfic, and oddly enough, it's the most Buffy-centric thing I've ever attempted. Some 'shipping here, but to reveal now would be telling. ;-)

* * *

"What's the name of this thing again, Will? An Ashanti demon?" 

"Not Ashanti, Buffy," corrected Willow, "Vishantrai. Totally different."

"Well, that's a relief," announced Xander sarcastically. "Although I for one wouldn't mind listening to the melodic, sinister stylings of a demony songstress."

All three of Xander's companions-Buffy, Willow, and Dawn-groaned at his joke loudly, and with good reason. "Xander," moaned Willow, voicing her exasperation.

"Come on, Will," replied Xander jokingly, "don't tell me you wouldn't mind having a demon like that around."

"You know that I prefer blondes, Xander," answered Willow with a slightly mischievous look on her face. "Right, Buffy?"

Buffy caught the look, and its meaning, and put her arm around Willow waist as she said seductively, "Absolutely. Wasn't last night proof enough?"

Xander's jaw dropped almost as fast as other parts of his body rose to full attention. Dawn similarly lost her cool, screaming loudly as she covered her ears and shouted, "Virgin ears! Virgin ears!"

"It didn't bother you at all that summer when Buffy was dead," mentioned Willow knowingly.

"Well, you weren't doing...it with my sister," complained the thoroughly grossed out teen. "And at least Buffy is quiet."

"And just how would you know that?" asked Buffy, now showing definite signs of annoyance.

"Well, there were all those times when Riley would stay overnight and have a big grin on his face in the morning." Willow snickered, causing Dawn to take the defensive. "What? What'd I say?"

"Riley always had that look on his face," answered Willow. "The guy's like a big ol' puppy dog."

"Hey!" interrupted Xander, sounding as if he were hurt. "I thought that I was the one who was like a puppy dog."

"Sorry, Xand," said Buffy with a bit of mock sympathy in her voice. "You just look like a manly world-saving guy." After letting Xander bask in his own glory for a moment, Buffy added. "Besides, Willow and I need you to think that you're all buff so we can go make out while you and Dawn kill this demon."

Yet again, Dawn was shocked beyond words. "Buffy!" Well, almost.

"Jeez, I can't even make a series of crude sexual jokes anymore," groused the Slayer. "Why even bother saving the world?"

"Well, I appreciate the joke," remarked Xander earnestly.

"Eww, Xander," answered Dawn as the three women stopped to absorb the implications of Xander's "appreciation".

"I have to go with Dawn here," announced Buffy. "That was pretty 'ew'."

The group started walking again, and soon Buffy and Dawn were bearing down on Willow, who had yet to express her disdain. "What?"

"You're supposed to voice your disgust, Will," said Buffy in a motherly tone of voice.

"Why?"

Dawn spoke next, nearly channeling the spirit of Cordelia as she did so. "So, you actually like it when a guy admits to getting off on you? How sick is that?"

Shrugging, Willow said, "What can I say? That guy is my best friend. Besides, he doesn't have a chance with me, so what kind of person would I be to destroy his perverted fantasies?"

"Aren't we supposed to be hunting something?" asked Xander, now quick to change what was quickly becoming a very painful subject.

"I guess so," responded the Slayer with a little pout. "What does this thing do, anyways?"

"It has some power over time," said Willow, with an apparent lack of confidence in her voice. "It's all a bunch of vague Giles-y prophecies and double talk. The only thing that's clear is that its victims end up kinda insane."

"Insane?" asked Buffy, just a touch of old fears rising in her as she spoke. "How so?"

"The accounts talk of people claiming things that either couldn't have happened, or wouldn't have, at least not for some time. Best friends who the victims claimed they had never met. Enemies being recognized as life-long loves. Fiancees being recognized as husbands or wives-and claiming that they had families. Just really strange stuff."

"Oh, like Angel falling in love with Cordelia?" asked Xander, taking time to laugh at that ridiculous notion.

Buffy glared at Xander, and began laughing herself. "That's a good one, Xander," she replied between rounds of laughter. "Angel in love with Cordy...like that'd ever happen." Willow and Dawn joined in on the joke, and laughed with the others for a moment or two before Buffy returned to the matter at hand. "How can that be possible? The bizarro world where Angel loves Cordy and all that?"

"Temporal folds," murmured Xander, much to everyone's surprise. "It's a big Star Trek thing-this one episode had Worf shifting through worlds, where little things would be different from the last world, until things were totally different."

"You are such a geek, Xander," noted Buffy with a bit of disgust.

"But a world-saving geek," responded the onetime Zeppo with pride.

"Yes you are," replied Buffy as she handed him an axe. "Now, go save the world with Dawn while Willow and I have wild sex inside one of the crypts."

"EWWWWW!"

"Still joking," announced the Slayer sarcastically. After a brief pause, she added, "Xander, Dawn, go that way," while pointing in a westerly direction. "Willow and I will circle the area, we'll kill this thing, go home, and party."

"A party? Cool!"

"It was just an expression, Dawn," shouted Buffy as she and Willow began circling. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you have some homework to do..."

"Spoilsport," groused Dawn as she and Xander headed off in their assigned direction.

"So," declared Buffy after a very long and uncomfortable silence, "how are things?"

"Better," replied Willow awkwardly as she looked up from her book on the Vishantrai demon. "Still a little freaked about last week at the library, though."

"Having the image of your dead girlfriend tell you it'd be a good idea to kill yourself isn't exactly supposed to be fun, Will," stated the Slayer. "Although the world hasn't exactly been Disneyland for you this year..."

"Yeah," agreed Willow. "You know it's a bad year when the best news is that your best friend loves you even when you're about to kill him just before you destroy the world."

"I don't know," answered Buffy coyly. "I seem to remember a time when a certain someone I know would have considered hearing Xander Harris say, 'I love you,' to her the best year of her life."

"I'm kinda gay now, Buffy," reminded Willow. "Plus there's that whole, 'I'm over you,' thing that we dealt with a couple of years ago."

"The point is, Willow," noted Buffy, "things change. Sure, Tara dying is always going to hurt, but you're not going to spend the rest of your life saying, 'That year was the worst year of my life.' You'll spend more time remembering the good stuff, and not dwell on the bad so much."

"Oh!" shouted Willow eagerly. "Like how I never mention how bad the lemonade you made for Parent-Teacher Night was?"

"Hey!" cried out Buffy, her feelings now hurt. "You said that it was good!"

"Sorry."

"Uh, what does this thing look like, anyways?" asked Buffy as she looked ahead.

Not noticing the panic in Buffy's voice, Willow looked in her book without paying mind to her surroundings. "Let's see...tall..."

"OK..."

"...scaly..."

"Check..."

"...big teeth..."

"Uh huh..."

"...lots of drool..."

"I'll say..."

"I don't believe it," finished Willow with a note of astonishment. "It does sort of look like Ashanti."

"I'm sure Xander will be pleased," remarked Buffy, now sounding incredibly anxious.

Closing her book, Willow looked at Buffy and asked, "Uh, why do you want to know what it looks like?"

Pointing as the extremely angry looking Vishantrai demon in front of her, Buffy said blandly, "I think I found it."

Before Willow could answer, the demon shouted something in its native tongue, then raised its hands at the two and blasting both Willow and Buffy with a lightening-like energy. Both women were thrown back by the attack, each colliding with a gravestone as blackness claimed them.

--------------

"Buffy?"

Willow groaned as she sat up and started to look for her friend. "Buffy? Where are-" Willow spotted the Slayer some four yards away, unconscious. "Buffy?" Looking around for the Vishantrai demon, Willow frantically shook her friend in an effort to awaken her. "Buffy! Get up!"

"Its alright, Dawn..." mumbled Buffy, still heavily dazed. "Mom won' mind if you skip school today..."

"Buffy, come on!" Glancing over her shoulder fearfully, Willow urged, "Buffy, you need to kill the demon!"

"Tha's OK, Mom," mumbled Buffy. "Faith can do it..."

"Faith's in jail!" screamed the redhead, desperate for Buffy to save their proverbial (and non-proverbial) bacon. The problem is, the Vishantrai heard her, and decided it was high time to finish this little escapade once and for all.

"Oh, crap," muttered the witch as she steeled herself for battle.

"Incendiere!" Normally, that word, as shouted by Willow, would cause a large fireball to appear. Now, however, it did nothing.

"Illuminos!"

"Aquamentos!"

No matter how hard she tried, none of Willow's spells seemed to work. Not that the Vishantrai cared or anything, for it smacked Willow in her face. "Well, that wasn't very nice," replied Willow as she wiped blood from her nose, not pausing to realize that the rather large demon had failed to send her flying.

Willow again attempted a spell, but was stopped by a hard uppercut from her opponent. Battered and dazed, the redhead teetered for a seeming eternity as the Vishantrai prepared for its finishing blow...

-----------------------------------

SHHTHUNK!

The demon screamed out loudly as it was hit in the shoulder by an arrow. Now distracted, the Vishantrai ignored Willow as it looked for the creature responsible for the attack.

"Willow!"

The Vishantrai saw two humans approaching, and one of them (the same one carrying the crossbow used to injure it, as well as the one shouting) looked mighty pissed. It didn't have to wait for the humans to attack again to get the hint; instead, the ugly terror decided to (wisely) cut and run.

"Hey, Xand..." Willow's greeting to her oldest friend belied her current state of consciousness. Namely, that of, "barely". "S'OK if I take a nap now...?"

Willow didn't bother for Xander's response, instead opting to pass out in his arms. "Will?" asked Xander, nervously. "Willow?"

"She's out cold, Xander," noted Dawn with concern, however obvious it may have been. "If it did that to her, what did it do to Buffy?" Turning, Dawn began shouting her sister's name, the fear in her voice as thick as the night itself. "Buffy!"

"She can't be too far from here," replied Xander. "I'm going to get the car." Dawn nodded as Xander picked up Willow and carried her off to relative safety.

"Buffy, where are you?"

Dawn began panicking as a figure rose from one of the graves, convinced that something very not Buffy-like was coming to get her. The Slayer's younger, artificial sister prepared herself as the shape stumbled closer. Finally, it spoke.

"Dawnie?"

"Buffy?" Dawn nearly tackled her big sister, too relieved to notice that Buffy was in about the same shape as Willow: bad. "Are you alright?"

"Concussion," answered the blonde heroine with the economy of words inherent in someone who really doesn't feel like talking. "Where's Will?"

"Xander has her," replied Dawn. "He's getting his car so we can go home."

"Sleep is good..." murmured Buffy as she started to walk forward, only to stumble. "Whoops..."

"Let me help," offered the younger Summers girl as she grabbed ahold of her sister. "Then you can go home and get some rest."

"Mmm...sleep..." answered the Slayer as she started moving forward gingerly, into the night and towards the safety of Xander's car.


	2. Chapter 2

Buffy was in heaven.

Well, not physically, or even spiritually, or any other sense of actually being in heaven, but that's how good she was feeling at this moment in time.

Sure, she was probably a great big black and blue because of the Mahavishnu? Vishara?...the whatever demon, but Buffy was in a state of pure, soul-sacrificing bliss.

Some time after collapsing into bed, Buffy had awoken to find herself being held by someone. Someone gentle and warm (though a bit scrawny, even when compared to Spike), who stroked her hair as she drifted back to sleep. Buffy had never felt this loved before, this complete.

That is, until she woke up this morning.

The person that had slept with her was still there, and still holding her. Their left arm was draped around Buffy's waist, with their hand resting on the Slayer's thigh. Her lover's right hand was resting quite comfortably (well, at least in Buffy's mind) on one of her breasts, almost as if it was meant to be there.

Buffy kept her eyes closed, not wanting to disturb her new lover from their slumber. Buffy smiled broadly, however, purring quite loudly as she enjoyed the sensation of, after years of failed romances, being held exactly the way she had always wanted to be held.

An indefinite amount of time passed peacefully until the Buffy's mysterious lover stirred slightly. Buffy's smile faded, but was quickly replaced with one of rapturous surprise when her lover began fondling Buffy's breasts, creating waves of pleasure that rippled throughout the Slayer's body.

Just when Buffy thought that she couldn't be enjoying herself any more, her lover's left hand traced a slow, laborious path along Buffy's waist, teasing the waistband of the blonde's underwear as the hand threatened to travel southward.

"Oh, God..."

After what seemed like an eternity-an, agonizingly wonderful eternity-Buffy climaxed. Loudly. And for a really long time, too. _Good God_, thought a happily fulfilled Slayer, _now that's an orgasm_.

"So," asked a female voice, "was it as good for your as it was for me?"

In roughly half a second, Buffy's eyes shot open in horror, and she was on her feet babbling at a rate that would put Willow, the world's Babble Queen, to shame.

"OhmygodohmygodohmygodIjusthadsexwithagirlandIlikeditalotwhichisntsupposedtohappenbecauseImnotgayatallnomatterwhatanyoneelsesays!"

"Well, that wasn't exactly the response I was expecting," noted the still unknown woman wryly.

Recognition of the voice caused Buffy to stop babbling for the moment and face her lover. She's not your lover, thought Buffy with her eyes sealed shut as she turned around. Recognition is also what started the Buffy Babble Train again when the Slayer finally opened her eyes. "OhmygoditsTarabutitcantbecauseWarrenkilledherwhichmeansImdeadorcrazyandIdontwanttogobacktothecrazypersonplaceagainwhichmeansithastobeabaddreamohIhopeIhopeIhope!"

"Buffy," whispered Tara, who was now standing and embracing the panicked Vampire Slayer, "breathe."

"Breathe?"

"Yes," repeated the witch, "breathe."

"OK," answered Buffy, before taking a deep breath. "Howareyoualiveyouweres-"

"Shh," interrupted Tara, who began stroking Buffy's hair in an effort to calm her down. "Talk slower."

"OK."

"Now, what's wrong?"

Answering as calmly as she could, Buffy said, "Tara, you're dead. Warren shot you when he was trying to kill me last June."

"Warren?" asked the other woman. "Willow captured him months ago, when he tried to kill his ex-girlfriend."

"Willow?" questioned Buffy. "But I'm the one who does the world saving. You know, 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and all?"

"The Slayer?" asked Tara, now clearly puzzled. "Willow is the Slayer. You help with the research. And the spells, of course."

"Spells?"

"Yes," replied Tara, who was now very worried. "You've been doing spells since Angel lost his soul. And then we met the night the Gentlemen came to town. We've been dating for two and a half years."

"But what about Willow? Aren't you and her dating?"

"Willow's kind of off the market, Buffy," answered Tara in a voice that directly implied that she had never found Willow sexually attractive at all. "She's married, remember?"

"Married?" asked Buffy. "Married to who?"

"Why Xander, or course."

* * *

A/N: Gee, ain't I a stinker? ;-) 


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes: Chapter 3 is here, hooray, hooray. Formatting in Chapter 1 has been fixed, as has the description. Thanks for the feedback, though Howard, your idea belies the mind of someone who is pure evil! I hope you know this. ;)

* * *

"Xander? Willow's married to Xander?" 

"Uh huh," affirmed the apparently-alive-even-though-she's-supposed-to-be-dead Tara. "You were the maid of honor."

"The maid of honor?" parroted Buffy with a heaping amount of fear in her voice. "I've gone crazy. The Visionary demon did its thing, and now I'm going to end back in the asylum and I don't wanna go back there 'cause I wanna be here with Willow and Xander and Dawnie and..."

By this point, Buffy's attempts at speech had devolved into tear-ridden half words and partial syllables. Tara tried as best as she could her girlfriend down, saying, "It's alright, Buffy. Everything's going to be fine. And you are not crazy."

"How can you be so sure?" asked Buffy as Tara wiped the tears from her face. "I mean, one day I'm Buffy the Vampire Slayer, someone who's woefully single (and not gay), and has spent the last year having sex with a vampire just so she can feel something following her return from heaven, letting her little sister become a total klepto while her gay best friend gets hooked on magic before trying to destroy the world when her girlfriend gets killed, only to be saved by her best friend, who she used to be madly in love with before I showed up wearing that damn push-up bra from when I used to think it was a good idea for guys to notice my breasts. Now, I'm a witch having a torrid affair with the girlfriend of my best friend who's supposed to be dead, and my best friend is married to her best friend is the Slayer, which doesn't make any sense when you think about it, because I didn't even know that Lothos existed until Merrick gave me the whole, 'You are the Chosen One' spiel, so how did I get involved in the slaying thing?"

Tara looked at Buffy with a broad smile on her face, and asked, "Is that it?"

Puzzled, Buffy answered, "And I think I'm kinda gay."

"That's good," remarked Tara as she moved a few stray hairs from Buffy's face before whispering in her ear, "because you're really sexy when you babble like that."

Buffy blushed at this admission by Tara as the witch grinned at her devilishly. However (and much to Buffy's relief), Dawn barged into the bedroom with a phone in hand. "Tara, Xander's on the phone and he's wants to talk to you. He sounds like he's seriously freaked out about something."

"OK," murmured Tara as she accepted the phone. "Did you get your homework done?"

Evading Tara's gaze, Dawn snuck out a mumbled, "Yeah..."

"Dawnie..."

"I was busy!" yelled the teen defensively. "If your girlfriend here had managed to not nearly get herself and Willow killed last night, I might have had the time to finish it!"

Tara said nothing, but gave the younger girl a scolding look, which was answered by a disgusted grunt from Dawn as she stormed off in anger. "Hello?"

"Tara?"

"Yes, it's me, Xander," replied Tara. "What's going on?"

"Lots," answered the voice on the other end. "Namely, my wife thinks she's a lesbian witch and that Buffy is the Slayer. Any of this sound familiar to you?"

"Yes, it does," said Tara. "I just managed to calm down Buffy after I woke her up a few minutes ago."

"Details, please," asked Xander with a typically lecherous tint to his voice.

"Don't you wish," remarked Tara as she shot him down. "So, is everything OK with Willow?"

"Now," answered Xander, "yes. Earlier, no way."

"How bad?"

"Will was scared half to death when she woke up," said Xander with fear and concern in his voice. Lowering his voice to a whisper, Xander added, "I've never seen her like this before, Tara."

"I know, Xander," answered Tara on her end of the line. "I'm sure we'll be able to get your Willow back. So, full Scooby meeting at the Magic Box?"

"Sounds like a plan," replied Xander. "Do you want to round up the usual suspects, or should I?"

"Well, Buffy and I need to clean up, so I guess it's your turn to make the rounds," offered the witch. "See you in an hour?"

"Sure thing," answered Xander before hanging up.

"So," asked Buffy, who had been listening to Tara's conversation intently (as well as trying to use her nonexistent Slayer hearing to eavesdrop, "what's the what?"

"Willow's in the same shape as you," replied Tara with a worried look on her face. "Xander's also really worried about her."

"They're really close in this world, aren't they?"

"Very," affirmed Tara solemnly. "Their auras are tightly joined; if anything happens to one of them, the other tends to react very strongly to it."

Tara's comments hit Buffy like a punch to the gut. "That was how it was like before I came to Sunnydale," stated the misplaced Slayer bitterly, as tears again flowed from her eyes. "I have to be the worst Slayer ever; my best friends, who were totally in love with each other when I met them and are now barely friends, and Willow managed not only to save you, but Katrina, too, when I got both of you killed by a geek with a robot fetish."

"Buffy, listen to me," declared Tara firmly as she held onto the crying woman in front of her. "You are not a bad Slayer. You have saved the world..." Tara paused briefly, searching for a number, before continuing, "Anyways, you've saved the world a lot, and more importantly, you have friends and family who love you very much, so much, in fact, that they'd lay their lives down for you."

"You just made all of that up, didn't you?" asked Buffy, her mood lightening ever so slightly as she spoke.

"Basically," admitted Tara with a smile of her own.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're trying to get me back into that bed."

"It's not going to work, is it?" asked Tara, bracing herself for the sad truth.

"Nope," replied the Slayer, now unable hide the smile on her face.

"I can't even join you to wash your back in the shower?"

"Tara," declared Buffy, "You are absolutely terrible."

"Oh, you haven't seen terrible yet," noted Tara as she casually picked clothes out for herself.

"Why, what are you planning?"

"Nothing much," stated Tara innocently as she inched towards the door to their shared bedroom, "except perhaps using up all the hot water in the shower!"

Buffy's jaw dropped in horror as Tara smiled devilishly before turning and running for the bathroom.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Notes: Two, two chapters today! The first one has been done for a while, but as you'll see, leaving you guys hanging after Part 4 would have just been too mean. That, and I had had to work the holiday angst-o-rama out of my system (I'm sure that some of you have read it. :-D) I've been debating as to whether or not to do something with the universe I'm concocting here, especially since some of the details I have planned scream out, "Write me!" Anyways, on with the show.

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"Willow?"

"Yes, Xander?" Willow didn't face her friend _Husband_, instead opting to look out the large window in Xander's _Our?_ bedroom. The redhead had quickly chosen that spot because everything in the room stood as a stark reminder of a lifelong friendship that had, in this world at least, blossomed into marriage.

"I...uh, just got off the phone with Tara," began Xander, breaking another in a series of uncomfortable silences that had characterized the morning for the two since Xander had managed to calm Willow down. "She said that Buffy's got the whole 'What in the world is going on?' thing that you do."

_Thank the Goddess_, replied Willow internally as she relaxed slightly. "So, I take it we're going to be having a fun session of the research-y kind in an hour?"

"You heard me on the phone, didn't you?" asked Xander, already knowing what her answer would be.

"Yeah," responded Willow guiltily as she craned her neck briefly in his direction. "Sorry."

"No problem," replied Xander, brushing the incident off as nothing. "Happens all the time with Will. The one I'm married to, I mean." Pausing awkwardly yet again, he added, "I'm gonna call the rest of the gang now, OK?"

"OK." Willow stood quietly for a few seconds before saying, seemingly to herself, "Xander?"

"Yes, Will?"

"How are they? Buffy and Tara, I mean."

Xander stood there for a moment, puzzled, before asking, "In what way?"

"Their relationship," clarified Willow, steeling herself for a truth she feared that she would be unable to handle. "How is it? Are they deeply in love, falling apart, somewhere in between...?"

"Buffy and Tara are very deeply in love," stated Xander honestly. "Next to Angel and Parker, Tara is the best lover anyone-especially Buffy-could have."

Willow sighed deeply, repeating to herself, "I will not cry, I will not cry, I will not cry," as she turned around to face the double of her oldest friend. "And us? How are we?"

"We are fine," stated Xander, smiling at the mention of his marriage. "This town, though...I swear, it's killing my Willow." The young man clenched his fists in a show of anger, but quickly repressed his ill feelings. "I don't know how you are, but my Willow is not a born leader, by any means. When we were kids, she was so dreadfully shy, so...fragile. Without each other, there's no doubt we'd both have died ages ago. But being the Slayer demands that Will is the center of attention, and that she takes charge against things no one, especially not a teenage girl, should ever have to encounter." Sighing briefly, Xander continued, "Willow and I started dating while we were stuck in Oxnard. My time with her has been unbelievable, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. But I've spent so many nights since I learned about her being the Slayer, and about this town, holding Willow while she cries herself to sleep because of all the shit this fucking town throws at her on a daily basis, that I almost wish she would die, simply so that the pain would stop, and that Willow could finally walk away from the 'good fight'. But then, I know that if Willow dies, I won't be able to live with myself, because I love her so much..."

Willow approached Xander and gave him a fierce hug. Is this how my Xander feels about me? asked the witch to herself, shocked at just how deep this Xander's love for his Willow was.

"Uh, Will?" asked Xander, in obvious pain. "Can you let go?"

"Huh?" answered Willow ignorantly. "What's wrong?"

"Can't...breathe..."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Instinctively, Willow let go of Xander as fast as she could. Xander fell and landed flat on his rear. "Are you alright?"

"I'll live," groaned Xander as Willow helped him up. "How about we do that getting ready thing we were going to earlier before you kill me with your Slayer powers?"

"Sounds like a plan," remarked Willow as she started hunting for clothes to wear. "Oh, Xander?"

"Yes, Will?" answered Xander as he stopped at the doorway and turned to face the copy of his wife.

"Thank you, for everything."

"Just doing my job," replied Xander as he turned and left.

Willow stared at the hallway afterwards, lost in thought about not only this Xander and his Willow, but of the Xander she thought she knew so well.

-------------------

"Wow," said Buffy as she and Tara entered the Magic Box, "it's...intact."

"You sound like that's a strange thing," remarked Tara.

"Let's just say that in my world, it stands as a monument to how upset Willow was when you were killed."

"Oh."

Buffy looked on with curiosity at the girl running the register, whom she did not recognize until the girl spoke. "Hey, guys. What brings you here so early?" Amy was almost an entirely different person here. Instead of being a recently de-ratted magic junkie, she was clean-cut and displayed a level of maturity and confidence far beyond the reach of the woman Buffy knew. In short, Amy looked positively stunning.

_Oh my God, Amy is a fox!_ thought Buffy as she stared at the woman standing politely before her. _But that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to take her into the back room and ravage her all day long, because I am not gay whatsoever. Do you hear me, body? I'M NOT GAY!_ However, despite her internal protests, Buffy continued to stare and think very impure thoughts about Amy.

"The Vishantrai demon, I'm afraid," answered Tara. "Buffy and Willow had a close encounter with it last night, and now we've got Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Willow the witch."

"You make it sound so simple," said Amy with a knowing glint in her eye.

"Willow's gay and Buffy's straight," blurted out Tara.

"You're straight?" asked Amy of Buffy. "Could have fooled me."

Buffy sat down at the Magic Box's large table in defeat. "It has to be the air, or the water..."

"...or the women..." murmured Tara with a hint of satisfaction as she sat down beside Buffy.

"Anyway," replied the other blonde as she glared at Tara with mock anger, "there's something wrong with me, because I'm so not gay. I've never even had thoughts like that about women before."

"But you've been checking me out since you first saw me," noted Amy.

"And you slept with me and let me take care of your...you this morning without noticing that I'm sort of, oh, girl-shaped," added Tara. "After all, I'm not exactly a butch or anything."

Buffy looked Tara over quickly to mentally confirm this fact, and it wasn't very long before she turned away, her face as red as a beet. "Can we please change the subject now? This game of 'Give Buffy the Third Degree' is getting a bit uncomfortable."

"Oh, but that's when it starts getting fun, B," announced a female voice that came from the training room in the back of the store.

The three women turned to face the voice, and while Amy and Tara happily greeted Faith, Buffy's reaction was far darker. Years of unresolved feelings towards the raven-haired Slayer raged anew inside Buffy's soul, setting off a temper that, in Buffy's own universe, would cause demons everywhere to cower in terror. However, in this universe, Buffy was a witch, not a Slayer, and a powerful one to boot. Left in the care of an experienced spell caster, a display of anger could be easily controlled. In Buffy's hands, however, her anger kept feeding itself, and soon it was out of control.

"Faith," growled Buffy as she stood up, her eyes black as midnight.

"Whoa, B, calm down," replied Faith, "I was only joking."

"The only thing that'll be better than killing you is the slow torture a bitch like yourself deserves," declared Buffy as she approached the double of her rival. "I think it's about time you learned what a real Slayer is."


	5. Chapter 5

"B, seriously, you're scaring me." Faith backed up fearfully as she tried to reason with Buffy.

"Buffy, please," pleaded Tara nervously. "The magicks in your body are affecting you..."

"Back off," stated the Slayer imperiously as she sent Tara and Amy flying with a simple wave of her arm.

"I thought you said she wasn't a witch," complained Amy as she struggled to get back on her feet.

"She isn't," affirmed Tara. "That's why she lost it at the very sight of Faith, and why she's been so...so..."

"Hormonal?" offered Amy as she helped the other witch up off the floor.

"Exactly." Explaining things further, Tara said, "Our power is like energy: it can't be created or destroyed, but it can be transferred. Also, our bodies are like conduits for that power, and even though we aren't always using the power, it's still there, waiting to be used. But since Buffy doesn't know how to control her power, it's been affecting how she reacts to the world around her."

"So, in other words," asked Amy, "this Buffy really, really hates Faith, and now she's going off like Mt. Saint Helens?

"Right." Looking on as Buffy towered over a now-cowering Faith, Tara asked, "Any ideas on how to stop her?"

"Not a one," answered Amy as the two women exchanged fearful glances.

-------------------

"And you caught them having sex in Giles' living room floor?"

"You should have seen Buffy," replied Xander, who, like Willow, was laughing quite happily as the two walked to the Magic Box. "She was horrified!"

"I would have been, too," mentioned Willow. "I mean, Buffy's Mom and Giles? Having sex? Not exactly something I'd want to see. Ever."

"Faith couldn't get enough of it," continued Xander. "She-"

"Faith?" asked Willow nervously. "Is she here, in Sunnydale?"

"Of course," answered Xander off-handedly. "Why wouldn't she be?"

Willow faced Xander, her face a picture of grim determination as she explained, "Faith went evil in our universe, and Buffy doesn't like her. I mean **really** doesn't like her."

"Wait a second," replied Xander. "So, Buffy, who currently has these new-to-her magic powers, really hates Faith, who I've asked to come to the Scooby pow-wow."

"Yes."

"And you, as a witch yourself, would consider this to be a bad thing, correct?"

"Yes."

Willow and Xander looked at each other for a moment before saying simultaneously, "Oh, shit." Without thinking, the two made a dead heat for the store, both praying that Faith and Buffy had yet to cross paths.

--------------

"You realize that if Buffy realizes that we're casting this spell, we're dead, right?" asked Amy as she sat down in front of Tara.

"Possibly," answered Tara as she glanced at Buffy, who was currently shouting at Faith, now bruised and unconscious on the floor near the ladder to the platform containing what Amy called the "If-Buffy-goes-after-them-the-world-is-doomed" books. "I think we're mostly lucky that she subscribes to the super villain theory of being evil."

"What kind of evil is that?"

"The type that talks too much," replied the blonde witch as she grabbed Amy's hands and started to chant.

A few tense moments passed until the door opened, revealing Willow and a heavily winded Xander. "Buffy?"

"Will?" asked the Slayer, her guard dropping for the briefest of moments before her eyes reverted to their previously black state.

Dear Goddess, thought Willow as she gazed at Buffy and saw some of the same darkness that had claimed her following Tara's death. "Buffy, everything will be alright if you..."

"If I what?" asked Buffy, the fury in her voice raising precipitously. "Calm down? Cry like a baby because you love me? Or because Xander loves me?" Both Willow and Xander winced at the comment, shocked at Buffy's callousness.

"Buffy, you don't want to do this..." pleaded Willow, which was answered by a magickal backhand from her friend that sent the redhead flying into the research table. "Just my luck," muttered the witch as she stood up, "even Buffy doesn't buy that 'We don't kill people' crap she tried to sell me."

"Of course I want to do this," sneered Buffy as she faced down the shorter woman. "I can't believe that you, of all people, who despises that slut, would try to stop me from killing Faith. Or are you now over Xander enough to forgive her for boinking your best friend?"

"I had sex with Faith?" asked Xander at a louder volume than he had intended.

"That's not the same Faith that 'boinked' Xander and Riley," pleaded Willow. "Besides, do you really want to be a killer, like I am? Like Faith?"

Willow's words had an affect, as Buffy began to alternate her gaze between the dark-haired Slayer and her own hands. Even the most lax of observers could realize that Buffy was becoming increasingly horrified with each passing glance. The clincher, however, came, quite literally through the front door to the Magic Box.

"I'm not angry, love, just...annoyed. After all, it isn't as if we...oh, my." Rupert Giles stopped his commentary in mid-sentence as he noticed that his shop was, in a word, trashed. Not that Giles would used that word, of course.

Giles' companion, a striking blonde woman in her 40s, gasped as she saw the level of devastation, of which her daughter was at the center of. "Buffy?"

The dark Slayer/witch immediately recognized the image of her mother, Joyce Summers, and shook her head in disbelief before whispering, "Mom?"

Joyce Summers-Giles hugged her daughter fiercely, whispering comforting words into the ears of the now-crying woman. "It's alright, honey. Everything's going to be alright."


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Notes: The plot thickens, as does my level of creativity, since this part was delayed by work on Chasing Tara's epilouge of all things (now I just need to revise the parts posted here, as well as the rest of the actual story), to say nothing about some of the other ideas popping up. Who knew that a combination of The X-Files, Dangermouse, Air America Radio, an XBox, and Veronica Mars (among other things) could fire up the ol' imagination...

* * *

"Feeling better, honey?" 

"Yes, Mom," answered Buffy, who was currently the definition of contented as she sat on the living room couch of her home, fresh from the shower and wearing a thick, over-sized bathrobe.

"Well, then," announced Buffy's mother as she stood up, "I guess this means that I've fulfilled my motherly duties for the day." Turning towards Tara, who was walking towards Buffy with a coffee mug in her hands, Joyce asked, "Will you be OK by yourself?"

"I-I think so, Mrs. Summers," answered the witch, who was more concerned with not spilling the contents of the mug at the moment than her girlfriend's mother.

"Please, Tara, call me Joyce," implored the elder Summers woman for what seemed like (to Joyce, at any rate) the millionth time. "Being called 'Mrs. Summers' makes me feel as old as my mother. And still married to Buffy's father, on top of it."

"Sorry, Mrs...Joyce," answered Tara, changing his response mid-sentence as the older woman scowled at her discouragingly.

"I'll be at work," declared Joyce as she turned to leave, "so if you need me, just ask for 'The Evil Witch Terrorizing Everyone Because Her Vacation Got Cut Short.'"

"OK," giggled Tara as she watched Joyce leave. Turning towards Buffy after the front door closed, she remarked, "Your Mom is horrible, Buffy."

"You're telling me," answered the Slayer. "The worst part is that I'm pretty sure that she's not kidding."

"Must be that legendary Summers temper," murmured Tara slyly. "Cocoa?"

Buffy grabbed the mug greedily, taking little time to enjoy the chocolate-y goodness contained therein. "Hey!" shouted Buffy between gulps, "Is this supposed to make me forget that you just called me stubborn?"

"It can be if you want it to," purred Tara as Buffy took another swig of her drink. "Though, I must admit I was hoping that I'd need to use stronger methods of persuasion..."

The sultry look on Tara's face was so effective that it nearly caused Buffy to choke on her cocoa. Tara rushed to Buffy's side as the Slayer erupted into a coughing fit as the result of her drink going down the wrong tube. "Buffy, are you alright?"

"You are so evil," replied Buffy sternly before smiling weakly.

"That's what my family tells me," joked Tara as she returned her lover's smile. "The offer still stands, though."

"So, this is how I became gay," asked Buffy in full sarcasm mode, "by being worn down?"

"No," answered Tara with a self-assured grin. "I got you hot 'n horny by performing spells all night or a few months. Spells like the ones I'm teaching you starting tomorrow."

"Spells?" By this point, Tara was leaning towards Buffy, giving the Slayer a generous view of her cleavage (which Buffy noticed was generous in and of itself). This and the blonde witch's come-hither expression were driving Buffy wild with desire-just as Tara wanted. "Tara, I..."

"Yes, Buffy?"

"I...I can't can't do this," replied the Slayer nervously. "I...I mean, we...it's just too much." Responding to the mixture of confusion and hurt written on Tara's face, Buffy continued, "I've always thought of myself as being totally straight, and now I wake up here in this alternate reality, with you, and it's like, 'Hello, gay now,' with the feelings, and it's such a huge thing for me. Throw in the whole, 'Tara's supposed to be dead' thing, and you've got one very confused Buffy here."

"Well, I haven't exactly helped matters any," remarked Tara, who looked down in a show of both remorse and embarrassment. "After all, I'm pretty well aware that I possess a pair of lethal weapons here on my chest." Both women smiled greatly as Tara gestured towards her breasts with a cupping motion. "But honestly," replied the blonde witch seriously, "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable, Buffy. I guess I'm just used to being with my Buffy, and when I see you..."

"You want to ravish me in every way possible, and leave me begging for more?"

"More or less," answered Tara, who hid her mild surprise beneath a sly grin.

"Evil," declared Buffy. "Pure evil."

"Pure evil with homework," added the witch ruefully. "If you need me, I'll be in the dining room, OK?"

"OK," affirmed the Slayer, who froze briefly as her companion leaned in for a kiss. Running on instinct, Buffy closed her eyes and readied herself. However, all she received was a kiss on her forehead.

-----------------

"Dude," announced Faith, clearly in shock, "your world sucks."

"Gee, thanks," muttered Willow indignantly. "You have no idea just how good that makes me feel."

"Sorry, Red," offered the raven-haired Slayer apologetically. "I just call 'em as I see 'em."

"Apologizing?" asked Willow, a combination of surprise and amusement coloring her words. "You certainly aren't the same 'Get Some, Get Gone' Faith that I know."

Faith winced at the mention of her old motto as she glanced at Willow and Xander, respectively, with great regret. "Well, I learned the hard way that it isn't always that easy. Right, Xan?"

Xander nodded solemnly as he and Faith shared a meaningful glance, one which Willow noticed immediately. _Is Xander cheating on me?_ Correcting herself as Amy complained (quite justifiably) about how her counterpart was a "rat-brained twit of a magick junkie who deserved to be shot", Willow couldn't help but feel jealous of Faith. _OK, feeling jealous of Faith-who-isn't-the-Faith-I-know over this world's Xander, even though I just told my Xander that I was over him a few weeks ago. And now I'm babbling in my mind, and totally ignoring the fact that I'm kinda gay._

_Right?_

-----------------

"Willow?"

"Will? Hello, Earth to Planet Willow..."

Xander waved his hand in front of his wife's face, startling her. "What? Huh? Who?"

"We were asking if you knew why the Vishantrai might have attacked you and Buffy." Fortunately for Willow, it was Xander who spoke to her, as Amy, Faith, and Giles were all in various stages of annoyance.

"Well," thought the redhead, "other than The First, there's not really any Big Bads running around right now..."

Annoyance turned to fear and shock as everyone in the room reacted to Willow's thoughts. Giles was the first person to recover, and he addressed the witch with dead seriousness. "Willow, are you absolutely certain of this?"

"Yes," she fired back, perhaps a bit too defensively. "There aren't a whole lot of things out there capable of appearing as your dead girlfriend in an effort to try to convince you to commit suicide."

"That sounds like The First, alright," replied Amy. "Have you seen those weird priest guys yet?"

"No," answered Willow, "No Bringers-so far. We think it's gotten to Spike, though."

"Why do you say that?" asked Giles.

"And, more importantly," interrupted Faith, "why haven't you guys dusted his ass yet?" Off the upset looks on Willow's, Giles', and Amy's faces, the dark-haired Slayer said, "What? It's not like our Red didn't dust his sorry ass already."

"Well, he does help," mumbled Willow unconvincingly. "Look, that was Buffy's call. I'm not normally up with the 'Kill 'em all!' stuff, you know."

Xander nodded knowingly, though the others, who were more familiar with their Willow's temper than her quiet compassion, stared in disbelief. Thankfully, Giles came to Willow's rescue, annoyed as ever. "This is all well and good, but we have more pressing matters to deal with, especially since this Vishantrai demon is more than likely working for the First Evil."

Willow was, in a word, dumbfounded. "What? How do you know?" Looking to Xander, she said, "Xander...?"

Almost as if by telepathy, Xander answered every question Willow wanted answered. (Well, except the hows and whys in regards to her counterpart's sexuality, and that Faith thing, too, as well as her concerns about the Chun Li costume in their closet...and the Scarlett costume...and the Kitty Pryde costume...and the Mara Jade costume...and the outfit that looked like it was something Buffy wore sophomore year. Some things were best left unanswered in public, after all.) "Giles said it while you were spaced out, and no you weren't drooling or anything. Basically, these Vish-whatever demons are assassins for hire, and Giles thinks it does the temporal switch thing in order-"

"...to make it easier to kill us."


End file.
